Comments By ATXJEHU

Vacationed once in Port Townsend area, loved it

No income tax in Texas, but property taxes are high if you are a home owner; as for cost of living, Louisiana and Mississippi are lowest; since you are willing to stay out for long periods at a time, you might check out a place like Miami, Oklahoma for easy access to desirable recreational areas and reasonable cost of living; also it's on I-44 near Tulsa, Kansas City, St. Louis; just some thoughts

I had a good experience with Roehl.

Chad, options are great, but as OS noted, follow your heart's desire to avoid dis-satisfaction. Personally, I run a M-F dedicated, drop and hook routine and like it just fine. However, other drivers on the same gig are bored out of their minds with it and go back OTR because of the sameness. Out the gate as a rookie, I was OTR 15 months (including stranded in Chicago during blizzard Hercules in 01/14) which was quite enough for me. But, sounds like you are itching to roll coast to coast, so I say go for it. You will likely be able to change to a different gig at will with Schneider.

Might check with Maverick; last I heard, they run all automatics; trailers are either reefers or flatbed (some for glass)

I had a couple of phone conversations with the TransForce office here in the Dallas area. It sounded tempting. You work for them as an hourly paid employee. It gives a driver the flexibility of changing to different companies without looking like a job hopper. I landed my present gig before deciding to go with TransForce. I would definitely consider them if and when my present job ends.

They didn't tell me the names of the companies that "hired/leased" their drivers, but they had half dozen or so choices. The aspect that attracted me was, if you didn't like a particular gig, you could change to another one they had available without any negative ramifications whatsoever. For example, one job available at that time was a daily, M-F, night run from Dallas to Houston and back, dry van, drop and hook, no touch. It paid $17.00 an hour with overtime after 40 hours and was usually a 50 hour work week for a gross of $935.00. Not the best paying job out there, but it would suit some drivers just fine due to its flexibility and having off weekends.

I had a couple of phone conversations with the TransForce office here in the Dallas area. It sounded tempting. You work for them as an hourly paid employee. It gives a driver the flexibility of changing to different companies without looking like a job hopper. I landed my present gig before deciding to go with TransForce. I would definitely consider them if and when my present job ends.

Thanks for the update; that was an extremely tough situation to go through; sounds like you are on the right track and the preceding tips should make a big difference in your next result; sorry, don't have any tips as I am a "door slammer" (dry van), lol. Good luck and keep us posted

Very common for the address to be to the front door of the company, not to the shipping/receiving area and the two can be on different streets; best policy is to call the customer; often there will be a recording that gives directions; unfortunately, it's not unusual that the phone number is also wrong or to the front desk which is closed after normal business hours; welcome to trucking!

Sounds like your expectations are realistic, so you should be fine. As to teaming-can't help you there much; I think some starter companies will team you up with another new driver after you get past the time with a trainer. Good luck to ya. Try to stay in the South during the winter, but when you are OTR and new to the industry, that is probably not realistic.